Aftermath
by MutantStarfish
Summary: Agent Peggy Carter leads the Howling Commandos on a mission to take down the last known Hydra base two months after Steve Roger's death. On this mission, she learns a surprising fact, and discovers there is much more to Hydra than everyone originally thought. (Peggy and Steve married AU).
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This fanfiction takes place two months after Steve falls below the ice, and will focus on Peggy and the Howling commandos dealing with Steve's "death" as they take down a Hydra base. This fic is slightly AUish, as Peggy and Steve were married for a month before Steve "died." This story may start out a little slow, but I am building up to something big, I promise :)**

 **Please Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, I am simply playing around with them and I promise to return them relatively (or not) unscathed. All character rights to Marvel.**

 **Chapter 1**

"Pegs. Pegs, wake up. We gotta go to work."

Peggy groaned, snuggling farther into Steve, willing him to stay.

"Pegs!" a hand shook her shoulder gently, and Peggy felt a pang of sadness as reality washed her dream away. She opened her eyes to see not Steve, but Dugan.

"I was having a nice dream," she told him, words slurring a little from sleep.

"So were the rest of us, but we gotta leave in 20 minutes." Dugan stood offering her a hand up. She took it, and immediately sat back down as a wave of nausea washed over her. The Howling Commandos were camped high in the mountains, and the thin air had taken its toll on all of them, especially Peggy.

The nausea passed, and Peggy began to get ready; she prepared her rifle and ammunition, all whilst trying not to think of her dream. Steve had passed two months ago, and the pain of her husband's death was still sharp. The whole group had felt the sting of his absence on their missions, but their fierce loyalty to the Captain and his goal of taking down Hydra had driven them to work harder and more efficiently. Now, there was only one Hydra base left and, God willing, that one would be gone by morning.

Peggy was surprised to see a dense layer of fog around the camp as she stepped out of her tent. She could see maybe 5 meters away, but beyond that was pea soup.

Finding her way to the meeting tent, she opened the flap and entered. General Hamlin was already inside, waiting for Peggy to join him. The general and the agent had been assigned to combine their forces on this mission, since the base was too large for the Howling Commandos to take it alone.

General Hamlin was a tall, broad-shouldered man who spoke quite brashly. He was notorious for defying orders, especially those of the SSR. Specifically those of Agent Carter. His lack of compliance had caused injury to several SSR agents, making him quite unpopular with the agency. However, he had been the only one available to provide troops for this night.

Hamlin Turned to face Peggy. "Well Carter, I hope your Howling Hooligans are all lined up and ready to go. I don't want them slowing my troops down this evening." He gave her a stern look.

Peggy tightened her fist as frustration rose in her chest, "You do realize that these 'Hooligans,' as you call them, were trusted and depended on by Captain America, correct?" Peggy raised a defiant eyebrow.

"And look where that got him," Hamlin smirked, "lost in an icy grave."

Peggy was beyond frustrated now. No, she had skipped mad and angry and had gone straight to livid. "How. Dare. You." her voice was dangerously low and laced with venom. "Captain Steve Rogers sacrificed his life bravely to save hundreds of lives. His death had nothing to do with the competence of this team nor his own. I will not allow you to disrespect my soldiers or Steve's memory in such a way. Am. I. Clear."

Hamlin smirked, "Whatever you say." He stepped out of the tent and began to organize his troops while Peggy regained control of her emotions. Angry tears came to her eyes, which she wiped away quickly. She refused to let Hamlin get to her.

Outside the tent, Peggy found the Commandos huddled in a group, discussing the plan. They were to attack the North side of the Hydra base, while Hamlin's troops would cover the South. The Northern side was farthest away, so the Commandos would leave a few minutes before Hamlin.

"Are we ready?" Peggy asked, joining the huddle.

"Mostly. Do you think this fog is going to be an issue? It's hard to fight an enemy we cannot see." Falsworth said.

"Then I guess we should pray the fog clears up by the time we attack." Peggy gave them all a terse smile.

The group headed out into the night, finding their way by compass. The fog seemed to continue to grow thicker; Peggy could only see about 3 meters away now.

"Isn't it kinda unusual that there is fog in such cold weather? Especially this thick?"

Peggy wasn't sure who said it, and no one responded. It was unusual, Peggy thought, but there was nothing they could do about it except keep walking and wishing for clearer skies.

After 20 minutes of walking, Peggy realized that her hand was physically stuck to the cold metal of her gun. A combination of the moisture in the air and the cold had frozen her glove to the barrel. She slid her hand out of the glove, and peeled it gently off.

Peggy looked up, and realized that she couldn't see anyone. A small flicker of panic rose in her chest.

"Dugan?" She called out. Hearing no response, she tried a bit louder, "Gabe?!"

Three more times, she called out, and received no response. She let out a string of choice expletives, and tried her radio. It was frozen to the point of being unusable. Peggy cursed a few more times, and tried walking northward, hoping she could catch up.

Suddenly, she thought she heard a noise behind her. Peggy whirled around, gun and flashlight raised. "Hello?" she called out.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then a whooshing sound. Peggy started, and then felt a sharp pain in her arm. She looked down to see a dart stuck in her bicep.

Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I'm back! I was planning on updating this about twice a week, but I received a very generous compliment this morning on Instagram so I got excited and decided to write another chapter. Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Marvel owns everything.**

 **Chapter 2**

 _"Peg, I'm trying to ask you a question."_

 _Peggy turned around. She had been teasing Steve as he had been fumbling over his words for the past few minutes, talking about how he loved her. But now, she could see how serious he was, and his voice was steady once more._

 _Steve held her hand in his. "Margaret Elizabeth Carter. You are the one love of my life, and I know that we are in a war right now, but this can't wait. I can't wait." It hit Peggy just then what was happening, and she put a hand to her mouth. Steve reached into his pocket, pulled out a small blue box, and got down on one knee. "Will you do me the honor of allowing me to be your husband?"_

 _"Yes." Peggy said, a silent tear slipping down her cheek as she smiled. "Yes."_

Peggy opened her eyes, and immediately shut them again. Light seared across her vision as the comfort of her dream faded into the harsh reality. She gave her eyes some time to adjust and then opened them fully. She was greeted with the dingy grey of the ceiling, and realized that the light was not as bright as it had first seemed. Peggy sat up slowly; in doing so she realized that her hands were cuffed. Looking down, she could see that her feet were as well.

She was sitting on a hard concrete floor that was surprisingly clean. Around her on three sides were metal bars, much like a jail, and to her back was a brick wall. There were other cells to her left and right, but all were empty. Her cage too was barren, save for herself and a small bowl in the corner. She managed to stand up in her cuffs, and went over to the bowl inspecting its contents. It appeared to be some sort of applesauce-like substance, and she gave it a sniff. It was rotten.

She set the bowl down and walked back to the brick wall. Gingerly, the agent sat down with her back against it, and tried to remember what had happened.

Peggy remembered the walk in the woods up until the sharp pain in her arm. After that, she could vaguely recall waking up at least once since then, but what she saw or what happened then she couldn't remember. She was starting to feel a little sick.

Footfalls echoed down the hallway; Peggy stood and walked to the front of the cell, trying to see who was coming. The footsteps got closer, and she could see they they belonged to two armed guards in masks. They stopped in front of Peggy's cell, and opened the door.

"What is going on?" Peggy asked in a low voice.

The guards didn't reply. The first grabbed Peggy's arm and roughly yanked her forward, dragging her out of the cell. The agent kicked out and made contact with the guard's knee, sending him to the floor with a cry of pain. She jabbed her elbow back at the second guard's face, and he staggered back a few steps. The first guard had recovered by then, and both grabbed one of her arms and pinned her to the wall, disabling any movement on her part.

"They told me you were a fighter," said a voice. Peggy turned her gaze as best she could, and saw that the speaker was a tall uniformed young man, whose white hair stood out like snow. "I didn't realize that you were this- what do the Americans say now?... feisty." He looked mildly amused.

The guards pulled Peggy away and brought her to stand in front of the white-haired man. "Where am I?" She asked breathlessly. Fighting the guards took more out of her than it should of. The drugs they had knocked her out with must have been quite strong.

The man smiled, "That is not information that I can share with prisoners. You of all people should know that, Agent Carter." He began to turn, but paused, "Or, do you prefer Agent Rogers?" He turned around fully this time and began to walk.

Peggy paled as the guards pushed her to follow the man. He knew not only her name, but the fact that she had married Steve. Who was this man?

She was lead down a hallway and into a room jam-packed with medical equipment. Her heart began to pick up the pace as she saw several surgical instruments and syringes on a counter next to an operating table.

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the white-haired man. "I am Dr. Werner Reinhardt, the new head of Hydra. Lately, I have been supervising some experimentation, the results of which we are very pleased about." He began to pace the room.

 _Why is he explaining this to me?_ Peggy thought. _If I'm a captured member of the enemy, shouldn't he be keeping this information as far away from me as possible?_

 _"_ Unfortunately," Reinhardt continued, "our work is not yet perfected, and we require human subjects. We were planning on using you for this purpose, but, we discovered a... complication."

"Complication?" Peggy was beginning to feel a bit of panic. What complication? Was she sick? Had they already tried experimenting on her and failed?

"I'm afraid so. I can see by your face now that you are not aware of this."

"Aware of what?!" Peggy tried to keep her voice calm, but she found herself increasingly frustrated with his indirect answers.

Dr. Reinhardt gave her a small smile. "You are, in fact, with child. About 2 months along."

Peggy's jaw dropped. _With child? No, no, no, I can't be pregnant. Can I?_ Peggy thought.

"You're lying," she said.

"No, I am not." His face was stony.

Peggy stood there silently, unable to take it in.

"When my scientists discovered this we, of course, realized that you could no longer fulfill our purposes." He came to stand in front of her. "Your child, however, contains the blood of Captain America, which opens a whole new world of science for us to explore." Reinhardt turned away and examined one of the syringes on the counter. "So, I have decided to keep you alive until the child is born. After which, we will begin testing and you will be executed." He smiled at her before addressing the guards, "Take her back to her cell."

Peggy was too shocked to say anything. She barely felt her feet touch the floor, and she could hardly remember the walk back to the cell.

She slumped to the floor against the wall. Was this really possible? Could she really be pregnant?

Peggy thought hard. It had been 2 months since Steve had passed, and they had -you know- they night before the plane crash, so she supposed it was possible. Things began to add up in Peggy's head. She had been getting sick when she woke up in the mornings, which she had blamed on altitude sickness; she had found herself tiring more quickly than usual, which she had also blamed on the altitude. Also, now that she thought about it, she hadn't had her cycle since her husband's passing. She really was pregnant.

All at once, Peggy's world came crashing in as the gravity of the situation hit her. She was widowed, pregnant, and a prisoner of war. On top of all that, the minute her baby was born, they would be taken away from her to become an experiment and she would die. Even if Peggy managed to get out of this, she would be raising the child without Steve, which broke her heart in an entirely different way.

Agent Peggy Carter began to cry.

She cried for Steve. She cried for their unborn child. She cried for herself. She cried big ugly tears, holding nothing back.

Peggy cried until she had no tears left. And then she became angry.

There was no way that Agent Peggy Carter would accept this situation. She would never let her baby fall into the hands of Hydra. Her chest swelled with a fierce motherly sense of protection, and Peggy walked over to the cell door.

She was getting out of here.

 **MUAHAHAHAHA!**

 **Ok, so that chapter was kinda sad and depressing, but... that was kinda the point :)**

 **New chapter will be up soon.**

 **Thanks to those who have reviewed! If you are interested in keeping updated on my writing process and when I post new materials, follow me on Instagram mutantstarfishy**

 **Thanks for taking the time to read my story!**

 **-MutantStarfish**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot. The setting belongs to Germany, the characters belong to Marvel, and the feels belong to the fans.**

 **Chapter 3**

The bowl flew across the room as Peggy's foot connected with it. She had been trying for what she estimated to be 6 hours to get out of her cell. Nothing had worked.

It had seemed that Hydra had thought of everything when they had captured her. They had taken her knife, the lock-pick pins sewed into her sleeves, her hairpins, and they had removed her drugged lipstick from her lips. She was out of options.

A noise came from down the hall. _Someone must have heard my bowl hit the bars,_ she thought. Two very large guards came down the hall, dragging something large between them. As they drew closer, Peggy realized it was a person.

The guards threw the figure haphazardly into the cell next to Peggy's; the person emitted a small noise as they hit the wall. Peggy approached the bars nearest the person with caution as the guards walked away.

"Hello?" Peggy hoped that the person was conscious.

The figure sat up with a groan and Peggy could see that it was a young woman, perhaps 18 years of age. The signs of recent torture were obvious; the woman's lip was split and bleeding down her chin, her eye was blackened, her leg had a deep gash in it, and her hands bore bright red welts.

"Oh no," Peggy kneeled down to look the woman in the eye and reached through the bars to touch her arm, "what did they do to you?"

The woman spit out a bit of blood before replying. "Better question would be 'what _didn't_ they do to me?'"

"What's your name?"

"Jenny. Jenny Lyons. I'm a WASP." Jenny pushed a bit of her tangled brown hair out of her eyes and looked up at Peggy.

"I'm Agent Peggy Carter with the SSR."

"Nice to meet you, though I would prefer it under different circumstances." Jenny leaned back against the wall with a wry smile.

"Come closer, I'll clean you up and you can tell me what happened." Peggy reached through the bars to wipe blood away from the pilot's face as she scooted up to the bars.

"Thank you," Jenny closed her eyes. "Like I said, I'm a pilot with the Women's Air Force Service Pilots. I graduated about two months ago, ranked highest in my class. The U.S. Government decided to send me on a top-secret mission; I was to be the first WASP to fly oversees and I was flying a extremely classified plane that had been made with the newest technologies. It was supposed to be crucial in winning the war. When I landed, I found that the base I was delivering to had been captured by Hydra. I tried to re-board my plane, but I was captured and brought here to be tortured. They want to know how to work the plane I landed. It can only be flown by certain people, and they want me to tell them how to change that." Jenny opened her eyes, and Peggy saw that their hazel hues were blazing with anger. "I spent two weeks at a different camp before they brought me here. I have been tortured every day."

"It's impressive that you have held up under interrogation like this, especially with no training in such an area." Peggy leaned back and sat against the wall. She was quite impressed with this pilot's resilience, but she could tell that the beatings had taken their toll. The young woman was bruised, undernourished, dehydrated, and tired. She couldn't hold out much longer, Peggy was sure of that.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want word to get back to the government that their first attempt at sending a woman pilot to the front-lines ended up in a major weapons leak. A lot of people were unhappy about me going in the first place; I don't want to ruin this for any other future operations." Jenny shrugged, and then winced.

"That's incredibly brave." Peggy smiled gently.

Jenny gave a small humble smile. "Enough about me." Jenny turned toward Peggy a bit more, "What are you here for?"

Peggy looked down. She had been trying hard not to think about it. "Well," Peggy cleared her throat a bit, "I was on a mission with the army to take down this Hydra base. There was a lot of fog the night we were to attack, and I was separated from my team. Shortly after, I was knocked out by a tranquilizer dart and brought here. They were going to experiment on me but... " Peggy blinked back her tears, "they discovered that I am in fact pregnant. So they have decided that they are going to keep me until the baby is born, after which they will execute me and experiment on my child." Peggy wiped away the tears that she could no longer stop from falling.

Jenny slipped an arm through the bars an put it around her shoulders. "Wow. I- I don't know what to say. That's awful." Jenny was quiet for a moment, "I can't even imagine what you are going through right now."

Peggy wiped her eyes again and straightened herself. "I have no intention of letting Hydra get their hands on me again. Do you have any ideas on how to get out of here?"

Jenny thought for a moment, "Well, I'm pretty sure I have been at this base for three days. Two guards patrol the halls once every half hour."

"I too have observed this, yes."

"The locks are low-grade, if you had a hairpin-"

"Those were taken from me."

"-or something to smash it open with, it could be easily done."

"I tried smashing it with my food bowl, but that failed."

"Ok. What about cutting it?"

Peggy was about to respond by saying there was nothing to cut it with, when she suddenly remembered something. She quickly stood up and removed her belt.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Jenny got up with a wince and limped after her.

Peggy didn't respond as she pulled a glowing orange wire from the lining of her belt.

"What is that?" Jenny looked at the wire intently.

"It's a hotwire. It generates enough heat to cut through small metal objects, such as the locks on our doors." Peggy reached around the bars and pulled the hotwire through the lock. She smiled as the door swung open. A few seconds later, Jenny was free as well. Jenny helped remove Peggy's cuffs, and the two smiled in triumph.

"Ok. Now, how do we get out of here?" Jenny asked.

Peggy's smile fell, "I don't know, I was knocked out when I was brought in. I do know that to the left are several laboratories, but I am afraid I didn't see an exit."

Jenny frowned, "The room where they tortured and kept me up until now is to the right. There are only two doors down that hallway; I'm not sure what the other door leads to."

"Well, why don't we try that door then?"

"Seems like our best bet."

As the two women made their way down the hall, Jenny leaning on Peggy to take weight off of her injured leg, Peggy began to wonder what had happened to the Howling Commandos and their backup the night she had been captured. Obviously, they had never captured the base, otherwise she wouldn't be a POW, but what had happened? Peggy tried not to let herself fear the worst.

They reached the door that Jenny had spoken of, and Peggy cautiously turned the handle. The door opened with a creak, and the duo entered slowly. The door had opened onto a landing of a very long and empty staircase. Up at the top, Peggy could see light. Jenny looked at the agent and shrugged. Up seemed the way to go.

The two ascended in silence, not daring to speak for fear that they might be caught. The light grew closer as they went up, and they finally saw that it was indeed a windowed door. After climbing 5 flights of stairs, the pilot and the agent stood in front of the door. The window showed a cloudy sky and a forest just outside.

Jenny and Peggy smiled at each other, and Jenny tried the handle. It was locked.

Jenny turned to Peggy, who was already swinging her fist at the window. The window shattered, and Peggy reached through the hole to open the door from the outside.

Then the alarms went off.

The two looked at each other in horror as voices began to shout from within the base.

"Run." They said in perfect sync.

Branches grabbed at their clothes as they took off through the woods. Jenny struggled along with her injured leg, finding it hard to keep up with Peggy. They leaped over logs and roots as they sprinted. Eventually, they came to a clearing where the two women stopped, panting.

"All this sprinting can't be good for the baby," Jenny said breathlessly, "we should find somewhere to hide and wait this out."

"I can guarantee that being experimented on will be far worse for it. I don't want to take my chances with hiding. I just need a minute." Peggy leaned against a tree.

"If you're sure..."

"I am."

The two took off again a moment later, leaving the clearing. They continued in the direction they had originally been running in, and the forest began to get a bit darker as they went deeper in. Peggy turned around to ask Jenny how she was doing, just as she slammed into something.

She stumbled back a few steps with an "oof." A pair of hand grabbed hers to steady her, and Peggy and looked up.

"Peg?"

The something she had run into was Dum-Dum Dugan, with the rest of the Howling Commandos right behind him.

 **DUN DUN DUNNNN!**

 **I hope you guys don't mind me adding in and OC. I typically am not a fan of OC's in fanfiction, but I needed to add Jenny for a certain purpose in this story.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far! Anywhere I can improve? Any other characters you would like to see? Any thing you have particularly enjoyed about this story so far? Any feedback would be appreciated, good or bad.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading!**

 **-MutantStarfish**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic week!**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

 **Chapter 4:**

"What on... where on earth have you been?" Peggy exclaimed, looking at Dugan incredulously.

"Well-"

"On second thought, we don't have time for that. Tell me later. Hydra is hot on our tails so we need to move."

"There is a truck waiting for us this way. Let's go!" Dugan lead the others, running in the direction he indicated.

They ran for quite some time, before a large truck came into view. Just as they pulled the last commando in, they heard shouts and a few gunshots rang out through the forest. The truck lurched as it took off at full speed, leaving the stunned looking Hydra soldiers in a cloud of dust.

"Wha-hoooooo!" Dugan shouted with a grin.

Peggy rolled her eyes, "Idiot." Her voice, however, was light and teasing, and she couldn't help but crack a smile. It was good to be back with her team. "Now," her tone turned more serious, "why don't you explain what happened the night of the raid?"

"Well, we were walking in the woods when we suddenly realized you weren't with us anymore. We called out for you, but got no response, so we sent Gabe and Frenchie back in the direction we came to find you," Dugan began.

"When we got there," Gabe picked up, "we found a tranq dart on the ground. We put two and two together and figured you'd been captured."

"We decided to go ahead with the mission, and add 'Free Carter' to our to-do list. Everything would have worked out fine, and we would have been able to rescue you within a few hours of capture." Dugan got a funny look on his face.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here." Peggy said.

"Yeah well, General Idiot and his troop of knuckleheads got lost in the fog. We had to go rescue them. When we did find them and began to lead them back to camp, we met a Hydra border patrol and got into a little skirmish. The Hydra agents lost, but we had to set the mission back a few days to heal up and wait out the fog. I tried to get the General to let us come rescue you, but he wouldn't allow it. We finally got sick of it and snuck out of camp. We had found a map of the base on the body of a dead Hydra agent, so we used that to guess where they were keeping you and where to get in. I'm guessing our point of entrance was your point of exit, which is why we found you so easily." Dugan gave a little laugh and shook his head. "Shoulda guessed you would rescue yourself. You're a one woman army, Carter."

Peggy smiled, "Well, I wouldn't want you boys to get too full of yourselves."

The commandos laughed.

"Who's the kid?" Jim asked, nodding toward Jenny.

"Oh, this is Jenny Lyons. She was also a prisoner of Hydra."

"I was working a top secret mission for the government under the WASP when I was captured. And tortured." Jenny gave a tight-lipped smile.

"Yeah, looks like Hydra did a number on ya." Gabe said, "May I look at your leg? I have a bit of medical training and can at least getcha cleaned up a bit."

Jenny nodded and allowed Jim to begin cleaning the deep gash.

"Did either of you happen to see any other prisoners in the base?" Monty asked. "It would be good to know for the raid tomorrow."

"No, not a one." Peggy shook her head.

"I did." Jenny raised her head.

It suddenly occurred to Peggy that she really had only known this girl for perhaps 30 minutes. She knew that the pilot had been tortured, but she really didn't ask if she had seen anything that might be useful for the raid.

"There was a man that they tortured in the same room as me. I never got his name. They only ever referred to him as 'The Soldier.'"

"Did you ever speak to him?" Monty squinted in curiosity.

"No, in fact, they muzzled him. Like he had something to say that they didn't want him to. They kept putting him in this gas and repeating German and -I think- Russian phrases to him over and over. I think they were trying to brainwash him." Jenny furrowed her eyebrow.

Peggy and Dugan shared a look. Hydra's experiments were as psychotic as they came. Brainwashing wouldn't surprise anyone in the least.

"We will get him out of there in the raid tomorrow. Lets just hope he is friend and not foe." Dugan said with a shrug. He turned back to Peggy, "So, what about you? What happened? Did they torture you too?" Dugan looked very concerned suddenly.

Peggy was quiet for a moment. She didn't feel like reliving the past day once again.

"Well, I-" the truck suddenly lurched forward as they came to a stop. Frenchie pulled the flaps on the back of the truck back, and everyone looked out to see that they were at camp, and that Howard Stark and Colonial Phillips were waiting just outside. Peggy guessed they had been called in when the mission went south for everyone.

"Pegs! thank goodness you're alright!" Howard helped her down from the truck, a gesture Peggy was grateful for. The eventful day had made her positively exhausted. She didn't know how long it had been since she had slept. Howard gave her a hug.

"Agent Carter! You are expected to give a full debriefing of the last two days to myself and your team in the tent. Lets go!" Phillips ordered. The Colonial spoke roughly, but Peggy could see a certain sense of relief on his face.

"I guess you will hear my tale at debriefing." Peggy smiled at Dugan and followed Phillips into the meeting tent. Peggy saw out of the corner of her eye that Jenny was being lead to the nurses tent to be treated for her injuries. Good.

The Commandos, Howard, and Phillips gathered in the tent an sat down at the long table. The Colonial took the head, and the others filed in around him.

"Now, Agent Carter, If you would like to explain what exactly happened I think we are all on the edge of our seats." Phillips said, leaning back.

Peggy stood up and cleared her throat. She began to explain the entire story, from separation to finding the Commandos in the woods. The only part she left out was her conversation with Reinhardt; she wasn't sure she could bring herself to say it.

"Is that all?" Phillips asked, a bit on the gentle side. He could tell that there was a part of the story Peggy wasn't disclosing.

Peggy looked down at her hands, which were clasped in front of her. "No. There is more." Peggy took a deep breath and swallowed, holding back her emotion. "Dr. Reinhardt told me that they were planning on experimenting on me. However, during their preliminary tests, they found something preventing them from doing so." Peggy finally looked up, and saw that everyone's eyes were fixated on her; it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. "It turns out that I am, in fact, pregnant." Jaws all around the room dropped simultaneously, a sight that would have been hilarious under different circumstances. "So," she continued, looking back down again as tears threatened, "they decided that they would keep me alive until the baby was born. After that, I would die and they would experiment on the child of Captain America." Peggy could no longer stop herself from crying. She put a hand to her mouth, as tears made their way down her cheeks silently.

"Peg, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Dugan, who was sitting next to her put his hand on her arm as she sat down. The room was quiet for a moment, before Howard spoke up.

"Peggy, we weren't going to tell you this until we got back to the states, but-"

"Mr. Stark." Phillips gave him a warning look, and Peggy watched the exchange in confusion.

"I would say, all circumstances given, that she has a right to know!" Howard spoke harshly and threw a glare at Phillips. Phillips crossed his arms but stayed silent.

"What is going on?" Peggy asked, her tears had mostly dried.

"Peg," Howard's voice was gentle as he leaned forward, forearms coming to rest on the table, "we found him. We found Steve"

Peggy looked down at her lap. She shook her head. "Thank you Howard, confirmation of my husband's death was exactly what I needed to top off this absolutely _wonderful_ week I'm having." Peggy's voice was laced with venom.

"No wait, Peg, you don't understand-"

"Oh I think I understand perfectly." Peggy met his gaze, her eyes blazing.

"No you don't! Would you just listen to me instead of jumping to conclusions?" Howard looked at her desperately. Peggy's anger sizzled down in an instant. What was he getting at?

"Peggy," his voice was full of emotion. "Steve is alive."

...

 **Whoooo! another cliffhanger!**

 **Please don't kill me.**

 **God bless,**

 **-MutantStarfish**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello Everyone! Unfortunately, school is starting which means that I will have less time for writing :(. This doesn't mean that I am abandoning this story! I simply wont be updating as frequently as I have been. I hope you all understand. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I wish I owned this and about a million other things, but just you wait!**

 **Chapter 5**

Peggy stared on in disbelief, "He- he's what?"

"We pulled him out of the ice and defrosted him. The moment we got the ice around his head melted, we realized that he had a pulse." Howard paused and looked a very shocked Peggy in the eye. "He is in a coma right now, but he is otherwise healthy. They expect him to make a full recovery, so long as he wakes up." Peggy sat down put her fingertips on her forehead, trying to take it all in. "We weren't planning on telling you until the mission was over and we got back to the states, but now that you're..." Howard gestured awkwardly at Peggy's abdomen, "well, I think it is best that you know."

Peggy stood, "I have to..." she walked out of the tent. She walked quickly; no one came after her, they knew she needed space. She didn't stop walking until she reached a tree a bit of a ways from camp. She slid down to the ground next to the tree, and allowed herself to finally cry. She didn't sob as she had in the Hydra cell, but tears dripped down her face nonetheless. These were the tears of confusion, frustration, and relief. She was shocked to know that Steve was alive, and her other emotions blended with it. But now, she wouldn't be alone in raising their child, which made Peggy's tears sweeten with joy.

So long as Steve woke up.

Peggy stood and made her way back to camp. She longed to see him. To see his face. To hear his voice.

Peggy walked back in the tent with an expression of determination. Everyone was exactly where she had left them, and all of them looked shocked to see her back so soon.

Peggy sat down. "Alright. I want to go home to see my husband. But since this mission isn't over yet, and I want to see it through to the end, we need to devise a strategy to infiltrate the base. I vote Frenchie leads a team to place explosives around the perimeter while I lead a te-"

"Hold up there Miss Gung-ho. You are NOT leading a team whilst pregnant. I will not have you put your child's life in danger. Dugan will take your place, and you will stay at camp helping Mr. Stark prepare to jet us outta here as soon as we get back." The Colonel said.

"But-"

"No buts, Carter. You will stay at camp. " The Colonel fixed her with a hard look, "That is an order."

Peggy sat back in her seat, returning the Colonel's look. "Fine."

...

Waiting for the Commandos to return from the mission made Peggy restless. She helped out around camp, but eventually they ran out of things to do. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

She knew that the Colonel was right, she couldn't go on the mission, not whilst expecting. This, however did not alleviate her desire to join her team.

When the troops finally did return, they had managed to get most of the research out of the labs as well as a prisoner. Dr. Reinhardt had escaped, right after he destroyed the rest of the research so the Allies couldn't get their hands on it.

Peggy watched as they unloaded what they had saved. There were plenty of files and a few gadgets, but what she was most interested in was the prisoner. She hadn't seen him yet, but a soldier had told her they had managed to get him out alive.

Peggy felt someone watching her, and realized Falsworth was making his way in her direction. She decided to meet him half way.

"Everything went well for the most part." Falsworth said as soon as they met. "You heard about Reinhardt's escape?"

"Yes." Peggy nodded tersely. She wanted him captured. She wanted him to face her once more so she could tell him just what she thought of him. Using artfully spoken choice expletives.

"I am so sorry. I realize that fact must be difficult to swallow." Falsworth put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She gave him a sad smile, "I'm sure you all did everything you could. Right now, I am curious about this prisoner we rescued. What is the extent of his injuries?"

Falsworth paused a moment, "Before we get into that, there is probably..." he paused again. His hesitancy was quite uncharacteristic; something had to be very wrong. Falsworth met her gaze, "Perhaps it is best just to show you."

He lead her to a tent on the northeast side of camp, and held the flap back for her as she entered. She stopped dead in her tracks.

Laying on the bed in front of her was none other than James Buchanan Barnes.

She approached the bed slowly. Bucky was in pretty bad shape. He had bruises and lacerations all down his chest and arms. Or rather, arm. One of his arms was missing, replaced by an eerily realistic metal one.

"The pilot, Jenny Lyons, confirmed that this was the man she was tortured alongside. He fought us a little bit when we found him, but we talked him down and tranquilized him for the ride back in case Hydra's experimentation reared its ugly head again."

Peggy took a breath, "Alright. We will take him back to the SSR when we return to the states. I'm not sure there is anything we can do for him at the moment."

All of this, all within a few days. Peggy had been captured by Hydra, she was told she was pregnant, she escaped, she found her team by sheer luck, she told said team she was pregnant, then her team told her her dead husband actually wasn't dead, and now her husband's dead best friend also was not dead.

Peggy sighed as she walked out of the tent. She had a feeling this strange week was not done throwing hurdles at her yet. But for now, she needed to pack.

It was time to see her husband.

 **:) I told you guys I had plans**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **-Fish**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello all! I hope your week was lovely!**

 **I would like to send a shout-out to those two people on instagram who frantically tag each other in my posts whenever I write a new chapter. You guys rock my world! Also shout out to everyone who follows this story. You are all so supportive and I love you all!**

 **Disclaimer: Still no.**

 **Chapter 6:**

Peggy's stomach churned as the plane came to a bumpy landing; she put a hand to her mouth to prevent her breakfast from making a reappearance. The plane rolled to a halt, and the Commando's began to exit.

As anxious as Peggy was to see Steve, she felt the need to help with the unloading of the technologies they had managed to steal. The Commandos refused to let her do any heavy lifting, so they allowed her to supervise them instead. She checked items off a list as they were unloaded and taken inside SSR trucks that would carry them to headquarters.

Once the trucks were loaded, Peggy and the boys were transported in the van that contained a still tranquilized Bucky Barnes. He would be awakened once they were able to take him to the SSR Special Cases Hospital in downtown Brooklyn.

Peggy studied Bucky's peaceful face as they traveled. He seemed the same as he had been the day he died, with the exception of slightly shaggy hair, a bit more scruff than usual, and the metal arm. She knew that he had been tortured, but it seemed that the wounds inflicted were healing quite quickly.

Unusually quickly.

What had Hydra done to him?

Peggy was drawn out of her thoughts as the truck lurched to a stop. She looked up at her team as shouts were heard outside. They all reached for their weapons.

The door burst open to reveal two men with guns facing them.

"Hands up," said one.

"Not a chance." Peggy fired her weapon at the man as the Commandos opened fire.

The two men fell, and the group exited the truck cautiously.

Outside the truck was a war zone. Men, which were presumably Hydra, fired upon the trucks from all sides, circling the group. SSR agents and accompanying soldiers fired back, but were struggling to keep up with the rapid fire. The Commandos opened fire as a group of Hydra men rushed them. The men fell one by one, but several of the Commandos were hit. Peggy concentrated her fire on the outer circle, taking down a man with every shot.

"Dang Peg! You ever consider becoming a sniper?" Jim shouted as he fired upon another Hydra agent.

"Not really!" Peggy took out an agent with a machine gun, "I like fighting face-to-face! It feels more fair!"

The fight continued for another ten minutes or so, and ended when a final wave of Hydra agents rushed forward with a spray of bullets. They fell as the last of the Commandos' bullets were spent.

"Thank goodness that's over,"Dugan scanned the surrounding area, "We should probably pack up and head out before they send reinforcements."

"I wonder how so many Hydra agents managed to get inside the U.S.," Gabe said. Suddenly he looked at Peggy with horror. "Peg." He pointed at her abdomen.

Peggy looked down to see a steady pool of blood forming at her left side. She didn't feel anything. How did that happen?

She looked back up at Gabe, who was rushing toward her.

His face was the last thing she saw before it all went dark.

...

 **PLEASE DON'T KILL ME PLEASE DON'T KILL ME PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.**

 **-Fish**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: No.**

 **Chapter 7**

Light filtered into Peggy's vision as she opened her eyes. Sharp pain reverberated through her body, the focal point at her left side.

A nurse walked into the room as Peggy tried to sit up.

"Whoa! Easy there, you might tear your stitches." The young blonde placed a hand on Peggy's shoulder to calm her.

"What happened?" Peggy remembered that there had been a gunfight, but she couldn't recall how she had been hurt.

"You were shot in the left side of your abdomen. I think you went into shock and passed out before you even realized it, from what your friends tell me. They were the ones who brought you here." The nurse examined the clipboard at the end of the bed. "I'm Violet, by the way." she smiled a Peggy.

Peggy, however, hadn't heard a thing past "you were shot in the left side of your abdomen." All she could think of was the baby.

Her baby.

Steve's baby.

Their baby.

Peggy turned her gaze toward Violet, and prepared for the worst possible news she had heard since Steve had told her he was going to die. "What about-"

"The baby?" Violet finished for Peggy. "Thankfully, the bullet missed everything vital. The baby is absolutely fine." Violet gave her a smile. "Congratulations, by the way" She left the room.

Peggy let out all the air in her lungs. It was safe. The baby was safe.

Peggy sat up a bit, careful of her stitches. She pulled the hospital blanket down and lifted her gown enough to see the wound. There were black stitches sewing the hole shut, and they were a bit red from Peggy's movement, but the wound looked otherwise like it was healing. She leaned her head back on the pillows and sighed.

The hospital moved about in it's usual way as the day wore on. Every minute ticked by in an agonizingly slow way. Peggy was given meals, a few officials came to get her statement about the attack, and at the end of the day, the commandos finally came to take her to her home.

"Hey, Miss Union Jack." Dugan said with a grin as the commandos filed into her room. Peggy had dressed and was gingerly walking toward a wheelchair that would take her to the car.

"I thought we agreed that that is a horrible nickname." Peggy winced, lowering herself into the chair.

"I think it fits pretty well. " The others murmured in agreement.

"I hate you all."

The group laughed and Gabe began wheeling Peggy toward the door.

"We're all glad you are OK. Both of you." He said.

She smiled up at him, "Me too."

...

It had taken quite a bit of convincing, but the Commandos had finally left Peggy to rest alone. She was reclined on her bed, with Steve's file on her lap. It had been updated since he had been found (kudos to the filing staff), and she had read through it several times. She needed to see him. It was an unscratchable itch; a knocking on the door that would not go away.

Her heart longed for her husband in a way that she had not felt before.

She fell asleep finally, but she was restless. She managed to keep her tossing and turning to a minimum so as to prevent her stitches from being ripped out, but she couldn't seem to shut her thoughts out long enough to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time.

Peggy rested a hand on her stomach. "Hello, little one." She said tentatively. The prospect of being a mother frightened her slightly, and talking to her baby made everything feel so much more real. "I'm your mum-"

That was all Peggy could make herself say. It felt too ridiculous to say anymore. She turned over cautiously, and shut her eyes.

Then she opened them and turned back onto her back, focusing her attention on her abdomen once more.

"Tomorrow, we are going to visit your father." She said. "He has been asleep long enough and needs to get his butt out of bed." She chuckled a bit. Steve would have laughed if he were here.

"Goodnight, little one."

Peggy Carter fell asleep.

...

The next day, Peggy got around in her usual way. After she managed to get her morning sickness under control, she dressed herself in her SSR Uniform, did her best to make her hair look presentable, and put on a generous amount of lipstick.

She looked in the mirror approvingly, and made her way out the door.

She drove herself to the hospital where Steve was being cared for and was lead down the hall to his room. No one questioned her presence. No one tried to stop her. Everyone knew protesting would be useless, for when Agent Margaret Carter wanted something she would not be stopped.

The nurse stopped in front of Steve's room and turned toward Peggy. "He isn't awake yet, but he seems to be healthy otherwise. The doctors think that the ice did something to his nerves in his brain that is keeping him asleep. You are welcome to visit whenever you want during 7:30 AM and 10:30 PM." The nurse smiled, and held the door for Peggy.

She stepped cautiously over the threshold, unsure of what she might see.

Steve's face was the same; his features kind, serious, and playful all at once. The sight of it made Peggy's heart do somersaults.

She approached the bed slowly, partially due to her wound but also because reality was setting in; this was her husband, alive.

Easing into the chair by his bed, Peggy placed her hand in his. Steve was alive. She was touching him. She never thought she would touch him again.

"Hello, darling." Her voice cracked as she spoke. "Welcome back." Tears spilled over her cheeks as she continued, "I need you to wake up, because- because something wonderful has happened." She smiled, and reached forward to brush her fingers along his cheek.

"Wake up."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello everyone! Thank you to all who have reviewed! Y'all rock my world!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't have that kind of money.**

 **Chapter 8:**

Peggy gave her lipstick one last swipe, and assessed herself in the mirror. She smiled approvingly, and turned a bit to look at her abdomen. It had been a month and a half since she had been captured, and there was a somewhat noticeable curve just above her hips.

It had also been a month and a half since Steve had been found, and he had yet to wake up.

Peggy wasn't allowed to go into work due to some dangerous incidents that had occurred at the office lately, so Peggy had been spending her extra time sitting with Steve. She would often read or bring someone along to chat with her (usually Violet, with whom she had become good friends) when she sat with Steve. Everyday she felt that he was closer to waking up. To coming back to her.

She smiled at a nurse in the hallway as she opened the door to his room. She looked at Steve as she crossed the threshold and froze.

His eyelids were twitching.

She rushed to his side and put a hand to his cheek. "Steve?"

His eyelids fluttered open, and he squinted against the light.

Peggy smiled, "Good morning, darling." She stroked his cheek gently and sat down next to him.

"Peg?" His voice was rough from lack of use.

"I'm right here."

He looked up at her, eyes wide open. "What- I thought-"

"You crashed your plane in order to stop the bombs from going off. Remember?"

"Yeah but, how am I alive?"

"We aren't entirely sure, but it would appear that the supersoldier serum combined with the ice had something to do with it." Peggy smiled as her eyes shone. "I never thought I would see you again."

"Peggy, I'm so sorry." He sat up a bit, groaning. "I'm so sorry." He took her hand and kissed her forehead as she leaned into him.

"I'm just thankful that you're alive. And awake."

They sat in silence for a moment as Peggy mustered up the strength to break the news. She had been waiting so long to tell him, but now that he was awake, she was struggling to find the words.

She leaned back so she could look into his eyes. "Steve," she swallowed hard, "a lot has happened since you went under the ice."

"How long have I been out for?"

"Three and a half months. You've been in this room for a month and a half."

"Oh."

They were quiet as Steve took that in.

"As I was saying, a lot has happened." How did she say this? "We- well- I-" she sputtered. This was not going how she had planned.

Steve was searching her face in confusion. "Peg?"

"There is something you should know." She looked down and placed an hand on her stomach, drawing Steve's gaze to the slight protrusion there.

He sat up as it dawned on him. "Peggy are you-?" His eyes met hers hopefully.

"Yes." she smiled softly.

Steve's face broke into the biggest smile she had ever seen. He reached out and set a hand against her abdomen gently, before meeting her gaze and kissing her.

And oh what a kiss that was.

They had waited so long for that kiss.

When they finally broke apart, Steve's face suddenly turned somber. "How long have you known?"

"I found out just before I found out you were still alive."

"So you- you still thought I was dead for a while while you knew?"

"Yes."

Steve took her hand, "I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault." She smiled sadly.

"But it was. I almost left you to raise our child alone, Peggy." Steve's face was full of guilt.

"Steve," her gaze turned stern, "you did what you had to do to save lives. I know who I married. I knew you would be facing danger quite frequently. I knew there was a chance I could lose you." Her face softened. "I love you all the same, and I don't regret a thing."

Steve pulled her into his arms, "I love you."

"Love you too."

"So," Steve gaze an impish grin, "What else have I missed."

Peggy took a deep breath, "Well, we took down the last Hydra base. They aren't completely gone, but they don't have anywhere to build weapons and experiment anymore. They are weak." She smiled, but Steve could see under the surface of that smile. He could see that there was pain there.

"Peggy, what aren't you telling me?"

"What?"

"You're hiding something." He leaned toward her, "Did something happen?"

Peggy took another deep breath. She supposed he would have to learn the whole story eventually, she had just hoped to put it off so as to not shock him.

But his eyes were demanding answers, and hers were giving too much away.

So she told him everything. She told him about Hydra, Jenny, the escape, the rescue, Bucky, finding out he was alive, the journey home, being shot, and how she had spent her time since. No detail, emotion, or word was left out.

As she finished, her eyes searched his face. His eyes were shining, and his features were set with pain. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a small squeak. He closed his mouth and eyes, fighting tears, and pulled Peggy into a hug.

They embraced for a long time, both crying quietly. Peggy could feel Steve's tears soaking into her hair.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He choked on his words.

The last time Steve had cried was when Bucky had fallen from the train.

Steve at last pulled back, and stroked Peggy's hair a few times.

"I will kill him. Reinhardt, I mean."

Peggy gave a small smile, "No. I will kill him. I think I've earned the right to him."

Steve nodded and smiled a bit, "Fair enough. Either way, Hydra will be gone. As soon as they let me back into the field, they will be gone. I'll organize the commandos to track them down."

"I wish I could join you." Peggy desperately wanted to hunt Hydra down with her comrades, but she knew the dangers. She had almost lost the baby once; she would not allow that to happen again.

"I wish so too." Steve paused for a moment. "So, Bucky is alive?"

"Yes." She smiled. "He has been in rehabilitation since we brought him back. Hydra did quite a number on his brain. He should be ready for the field in a month or so."

Steve smiled, "So, first my wife tells me she's pregnant, and then I find out my best friend is back from the dead."

Peggy smiled, "Not a bad first day back."

"Not bad at all." He smirked, and pulled her into a kiss.

...

 **He's baaaaaaack! STEGGY TIME!**

 **So, this chapter was kinda choppy with a rollercoaster of emotions for our characters, but I felt that it was necessary for Steve to have the entire truth right off the bat. So, of course, the whole truth is a ton of mixed emotions.**

 **Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, liked, or all of the above. It means the world to me! Also, thanks to those of you who consistantly read this. I love you all.**

 **-Fish**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello dear friends! I apologize for being the worst updater ever.**

 **Disclaimer: Nada.**

 **Chapter 9**

Reinhardt stared at the paper in his hand. "And you're sure this information is accurate?"

"Positive."

The doctor stared at the man. "This complicates things."

"I know. With Steve Rogers alive re-capturing Agent Carter will be even harder. We all know he will do anything to-"

"protect his wife and child, yes. We will have to move the timetable up. You say he has been awake for..."

"Three weeks, sir." The man straightened up a bit.

Reinhardt set the paper down on the table. "I was hoping we could hit while he was still weak, but if he has been awake for three weeks he will already have regained his strength."

The two were silent a moment, before the man spoke.

"Perhaps we should try something more subtle."

"What did you have in mind?" Reinhardt tilted his head, and folded his hands.

"Perhaps, if we were to use someone the Captain knows, someone he trusts."

"Are you suggesting..."

"They are perfectly matched in terms of strength."

Reinhardt sat back, contemplating. "There is some risk in waking the asset up too early. We are not entirely sure if the programming is stable."

"There is that, yes."

They sat in silence a moment longer.

"Lets proceed with this plan." Reinhardt said, standing.

"Shall I call it in?"

"Yes. Tell them it is time to wake the Soldier." Reinhardt smiled.

...

Warm hands aroused Peggy from her sleep, making their way around her middle. She smiled and hummed, burrowing deeper into Steve's arms.

"Good morning darling." She turned over to face him, and was met with his soft gaze.

"Good morning." He smiled gently, and kissed her forehead.

Steve had been home for two weeks now, and they had moved back into their apartment in Brooklyn. Peggy, being just over four months pregnant, had been officially taken off duty. She worked at the SSR office twice a week, but she was not allowed to do any sort of field work. With the war wrapping up in Europe, Steve had also been taken out of commission. America was still unaware of his "return from the dead," as Howard put it, and Steve had asked that it remain that way, at least until Hydra had been completely eliminated. Steve had also taken up a job with the SSR as an agent; he had proven to be quite useful as an operations manager. In the meantime, he and Peggy had been spending quite a bit of time tracking down Reinhardt. They had gotten close a few times, but he had managed to evade them thus far.

"Are you going to visit him today?" Peggy asked.

"Nah. I want to give him some space. Yesterday he seemed a little irritated."

Bucky Barnes had been in the SSR hospital ever since his rescue. Hydra's brainwashing had set in deep, but the psychologists had done a wonderful job and he was almost back to his old self. The only thing he couldn't seem to shake was his paranoia, which the doctors said might never go away. Steve visited him frequently to help him regain his memories.

"Well, I guess that means you actually have to go to work on time then." Peggy gave him a teasing look.

"More like, 'I guess you actually have to put up with me all day.'" He teased back.

She laughed, and rolled out of bed.

...

Bucky looked out the window, watching the people on the street below. He smiled as he observed a little boy helping a little girl up who had tripped. Now there was a good kid; a proper little gentleman. Things like that renewed Bucky's hope in humanity.

The door opened to Bucky's room, and someone stepped through. Bucky tensed, but then relaxed as he realized it was Dr. Frank, his usual "head doctor," as Bucky called him.

"Morning, Doc." Bucky nodded to the thin man.

"Good morning, Mr. Barnes." The doctor sat down in the chair next to his bed, resting a clipboard in his lap. "How are we today."

"I feel fantastic, I can't speak for you though."

The doctor gave him a puzzled look.

"You asked how 'we' are." Buck shrugged.

The doctor did his best to hide an exasperated look.

"What's on the schedule for today, Doc?"

"I want to try something with you today, if that is alright." Dr. Frank studied his clipboard, flipping through the pages.

"Uh, sure?" Bucky felt very uneasy all of a sudden. He tried his best to convince himself that it was just his PSTD paranoia.

"Longing." The doctor said.

Pain seared through Bucky's mind, and it took him a moment to realize that Dr. Frank had spoken in Russian.

"What are you doing?" Bucky sat up with a gasp.

"Rusted." The doctor continued.

It felt like something was splitting through Bucky's skull.

"Please stop! Something isn't right!" Bucky put his head in his hands.

"Seventeen."

Bucky felt himself losing control of his limbs, and they began to clench.

"Daybreak."

He heard himself scream, as his mind continued to disconnect from his body. He fought hard against whatever this was, but felt himself slipping.

"Furnace."

All he could see was red.

"Nine."

He continued to scream, but the sound was growing distant.

"Benign."

This intruder was winning.

"Homecoming."

He thrashed against the bed, but couldn't feel it.

"One."

He was hanging on by a thread.

"Freight-car."

James Buchanan Barnes slipped at last into oblivion, and the new consciousness took control.

"Good morning, Soldier."

The Winter Soldier turned to look at his master. His breath evened out, and his eyes turned deadly.

"Ready to comply."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello everyone!**

 **Ok, I'm not gonna lie, these last two weeks were very stressful for me, so I took a small hiatus so I could get caught up on some things. I'm trying to update at least once a week, but I sincerely apologize if that doesn't happen. Bear with me.**

 **Disclaimer: Due to the price of college, I cannot possibly have enough money to own Marvel.**

Chapter 10

Peggy and Steve had desks across from each other at the SSR, which was nice, but distracting at times.

This was one of those times.

Steve couldn't keep his eyes off of her today, and he couldn't quite pin down why. Perhaps it was the fact that she seemed to grow more and more beautiful the longer he stared at her. Or maybe it was that he couldn't get over the fact that he was actually married to this beautiful creature. Maybe it was the fact that his wife was expecting a baby, and he was over the moon with excitement.

Either way, he felt giddy inside. It was like looking at her was a drug.

Peggy was, of course, completely aware of her husband's gaze.

"Are you going to gawk at me all afternoon? Or do you plan on actually doing some work for once?"

Steve grinned a bit sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare."

Peggy raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe I did." Steve shrugged. "I can't help it. You're gorgeous."

Peggy bit her lip to hide her smile, and set down the file she was reading. She opened her mouth to speak, but froze, her gaze resting on something just over Steve's shoulder. He turned to see what had caused her to stop, and froze himself.

Bucky Barnes had just walked into the doors.

Steve and Peggy stood as he walked over to them. As he got closer, they could both see that something wasn't quite right. Bucky's eyes lacked their usual spark, and his gait was a bit more focused. He looked like a depressed man on a mission.

"Bucky? What are you-" Steve was cut off as Bucky's metal fist connected with his jaw, causing Steve to go flying into a filing cabinet. The filing cabinet fell over, papers scattering everywhere. Peggy used her arm to block Bucky's right hook, and landed a punch solidly on his nose. He recovered quickly, and threw his metal arm around her neck. He picked up a letter opener off the desk and held the point to Peggy's neck. Peggy kicked backwards and threw her hands forward at the same time, simultaneously moving the letter opener away from her neck and landing a solid kick to Bucky's knee. She heard a sharp crack as her heel made contact with his joint. He let out a grunt of pain, but stayed standing as Peggy moved away from him.

Peggy glanced over at Steve. He was lying face-down on the floor, out cold. Her gaze shifted back to Bucky, who was twirling the letter opener in his fingers. His face was full of malice, and his eyes looked dead. Peggy could feel herself growing tired; the baby was slowing her down. The other agents in the room had their guns trained on Bucky.

"Stop right there." One of the other agents, Thompson, took a step toward Bucky.

Bucky thrashed out, grabbing the gun and knocking Thompson out in one fluid movement. Where had Bucky been trained to fight like this?

The other agents opened fire, but Bucky held up a filing cabinet drawer to shield himself. The drawers were bullet proof due to the importance of the files they usually contained. Bucky rushed the agents, knocking the guns out of their hands and taking them out one by one. His back was to Peggy, so she decided to seize the moment. She picked up the stapler on her desk, opened it, and whipped it across the back of Bucky's neck. He turned to face her in surprise, and was met with three more staples to the face. Peggy smacked the stapler across his forehead one more time, and watched in satisfaction as Bucky slumped to the floor.

Everyone who wasn't currently unconscious stared at Peggy in shock. Peggy dropped the stapler, and rushed over to Steve, pushing the filing cabinet off of his back. He appeared to be OK, but there was a long gash on his forehead from where something had hit him. Other agents helped turn him over, and nurses filed in as the ambulence arrived.

Peggy stood and followed the stretcher with Steve on it, holding his hand. She was vaguely aware of people asking her questions, but their voices sounded distant. Her head was fuzzy, and vision blurred. Her neck hurt.

A few nurses lead her over to a different ambulance; Peggy was too dizzy to protest being separated from her husband. They lead her up into the back, layed her down on a cot, and shut the door.

 _That doesn't seem quite right._ Peggy thought as she watched the door swing shut. She slid a hand up to her hurting neck, and felt something fall from it. She turned to see what it was.

A dart.

Her last thoughts before everything went dark were: _Not again._

 ** _PLEASEDON'TKILLME._**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'M BACK!**

 **I apologize for the delay in my posting- I've had a super busy couple of weeks. Things are slowing down now, so hopefully my updating will be a bit more frequent :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own several things but Marvel is not one of them.**

 **Chapter 11**

Steve winced as he opened his eyes. Why were hospital lights always so bright?

He let his eyes adjust before he looked around the room. The room was empty, save for the bed and some chairs. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, groaning at his sore muscles. Why was he in the hospital again?

He felt the bandage on his forehead. Oh yeah, the fight. He had been hit on the head with- what was it again? Ah, a filing cabinet. That was it.

He felt more memories of the fight returning to him; that man that had walked into the room was Bucky but also somehow not Bucky. What had happened?

A nurse walked into the room and smiled at him, "Good morning, Captain Rogers. I'm Violet. Do you know why you are here?"

He nodded, "Sargent Barnes attacked."

"Yes. You suffered quite the bump to the head. You had a mild concussion, but with your enhanced healing capabilities you got over that quickly. You've only been out for two hours."

Steve was quiet for a moment, "Where's Peggy?"

"Oh. Right." She looked down with a pause.

"Violet, where is my wife?" He could sense that something was very, very wrong.

"The ambulance that she was loaded into never reached the hospital. We believe it was hijacked." Violet spoke very quietly.

Steve threw the covers off, and stumbled toward the door.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Violet followed him down the hall.

"Finding my wife." He said firmly.

"You can't leave! You still need to heal!"

"I'm not just going to lay around while Hydra has Peggy and my unborn child! Are you nuts?!" He whirled around and looked her in the eye.

She looked back at him and saw his desperation and determination. She couldn't stop him.

"At least put some clothes on. Kinda hard to fight Hydra in a hospital gown."

Steve looked down. He hadn't even realized that he wasn't dressed.

"Oh."

...

Peggy winced as she opened her eyes. Why were hospital lights always so bright?

She sat up and felt a familiar sense of dejavu as she recalled the events leading up to her current situation. Her current surroundings, however, were quite different this time. She wasn't in a cell as she had been last time; she was tied to a chair, and there were all sorts of machines in this room. Beside her chair was a woman leaning against the wall. The woman was tall and blonde; she was cleaning her neatly manicured nails with a wicked looking knife. The woman in general gave off a deadly aura, but the most unsettling part about her was the small smile playing on her lips.

The woman looked up, as if she had sensed Peggy's gaze. She grinned even bigger, and pushed away from the wall.

"Just a moment, dear." She said as she left the room.

A few minutes later, Dr. Reinhardt walked through the door, with the blonde woman (who was still smiling) in tow.

"Agent Carter. So glad to have you back." He clasped his hands behind his back.

"I didn't realize I was such a valuable commodity." She said wryly. The blonde woman's creepy smile got a little wider.

"Well, not you, but the child you carry, yes."

"You're mad if you think I'm letting you get your hands on my child." Peggy snarled. She was a bit shocked by the surge of motherly instinct she felt rising in her chest.

"Oh, she's feisty! Are you sure I can't keep her after you are done with her?" The blonde woman was almost pouting. Who was this psychopath?

"You killed the last three within two minutes. What makes you think she will be any different?"

"This one is female. And she had spunk. She might occupy me a little while longer than those weaklings."

" _She_ has a name, and is also sitting two feet away from you, thank you very much." Peggy said. She felt at the ropes binding her hands, and began working at loosening them.

"Of course, Agent Carter. My apologies. Now, you might be wondering what happened, since you were drugged when you were brought in. You see, we sent in the Winter Soldier after you, and he failed. We were all... surprised by your ability to wield that stapler, the Soldier included. He is in SSR custody now I assume. Thankfully, we did send in some backup in case things went awry. Miss Dorothy Underwood," he gestured to the blonde woman, "shot you with a tranquilizer dart from a building across the street, and our agents loaded you into the ambulance. And now, here you are." He finished simply.

"And what are your intentions for me now?" She could feel the rope getting a bit looser.

"The same as before. We will keep you alive long enough to deliver the baby, and then we will kill you." He replied casually.

"Not in a million years." Peggy gave the rope on final tug and tore herself free. She swung at Reinhardt, landing a powerful blow to his jaw. The jaw broke under her fist, and she swung with her other hand, connecting with his eye. He stumbled back, and Peggy swung around to face Underwood.

Dorothy had pulled a gun and was aiming at Peggy. Peggy ducked and swung a foot out, kicking the gun away.

Peggy immediately regretted that move. That couldn't have been good for the baby. She hesitated in her next move, which gave Dorothy enough time to twist Peggy's arm around behind her back and push her against the wall. Reinhardt had pulled himself up by now, and had loaded a syringe with sedative. Peggy felt the prick of it in her arm, and everything became fuzzy.

...

Steve stormed into the office of the SSR, and walked into the chief's office. The chief was sitting at his desk, mulling over some paperwork.

"Where is she?"

The chief looked up. "Captain Rogers. Good to see you up and about."

"Where. Is. She." Steve gave the man a hard look.

The chief took the hint. "We believe that she is still in the United States. No unauthorized planes have taken off. Our agents managed to track the ambulance that took her to Virginia, where it was left on the side of the road."

"Where in Virginia?"

"Just outside of Richmond."

Steve left the chief's office without another word. As he walked into the main office, he felt a hand on his arm. He turned and saw himself looking at a young woman. She had dark hair and a face that he could tell had been through war. She had the steely look in her eyes of a soldier who had seen too much.

"You need a lift to Virginia?" She asked.

"Who are you?"

"Jenny Lyons. I was a WASP during the war. I was kept at the same Hydra base and we escaped together."

Steve nodded, "I remember; Peggy talked about you."

"All good things, I hope." She said with a smile.

Steve smiled back, "Of course. Peggy said you were a tough young lady."

"I appreciate that. Listen, I can take you to Virginia. My plane is on a tarmac a few minutes away, fueled up and ready to go. If we fly to Richmond and start searching from there, we have a better chance of finding her than driving."

"I can't ask you to put yourself in danger like this. I have no idea how many people we would be up against."

"Peggy helped me escape back in the war. I owe her one. And trust me," she smirked, "I can handle myself."

Steve surveyed her face for a moment. "Alright. Show me where this plane of yours is.

...

 **I really love Dotty, so I felt I needed to put her in here somehow!**

 **Have a great week!**

 **-Fish**


	12. Chapter 12

**I seem to have lost my motivation. If anyone happens to find it, please send it back to me immediately. Thanks.**

 **Disclaimer: I own a lot of Marvel brand shirts, but not Marvel itself.**

 **Chapter 12**

The wind shook the little plane as it flew across the sky. The sky looked stormy and menacing as they approached Virginia. In the distance, Steve could swear he heard thunder.

He turned and looked at Jenny. She was squinting at the instrument panel, trying to fight the rough winds that rattled them. Steve couldn't help but admire her skill in flying the plane, and her determination. He found that he completely trusted this girl with his life, and he had known her less than a day.

"Where did you learn to fly?" He asked over the roar of the engine.

"My friend Sam taught me." She flipped a switch before continuing. "He worked on the next farm over. He taught me so I could work as a crop duster. I ended up loving flying so much that I decided to get my license."

"Did Sam join the war effort too?"

"He tried. Couldn't get a job as a pilot though because he's black." There was a cold and bitter edge to her voice.

"That's wrong. Everyone deserves a chance to fight for their country." Steve frowned.

"Yeah, well, tell the Air Force that." She flipped another switch on the panel. "Get ready for the landing," she said.

They glided toward an airstrip below, and landed with a bump. once they rolled to a stop, Jenny began taxiing toward an empty passenger loading spot.

"Do you have permission to land here?" Steve asked.

"Nope." Jenny smirked, parking the plane close to a building. "We might have to knock some night guards out."

Steve watched her curiously as she shut the plane down.

"Why are you doing this?" It was a question that had been pestering him since they had left. He knew that Jenny said she owed Peggy one for helping her escape, but she had an insistant ferocity that made Steve question if there was something more behind her wanting to asstist.

"Huh?"

"Why are you doing this?" Steve repeated. "You're putting yourself on the line to help me. You could lose your license; you could be arrested. Why would you do that?"

"Like I said, I owe Peggy my life." She grabbed a tarp from the back and hopped out of the plane.

Steve hopped out after her. "Seems like there's something more."

Jenny paused. "She reminds me of my mom. The way she looks, talks, moves." Jenny took a deep breath. "I can't stand idle."

Steve didn't push the subject; he could see there was a raw emotion there that he didn't want to provoke. They threw the tarp over the plane to conceal it temporarily.

They moved on in silence, walking toward the city. They were on the opposite side of where the ambulance had been found. They had decided that they would first search through the public records of any unoccupied buildings in the city, and start by searching the ones that might suit a Nazi hideout. They had considered asking for help from the Richmond Police Department (nearly any police station would follow the orders of Captain America), but they felt that doing so would attract unwanted attention.

They would be doing this the hard way.

...

Peggy woke up again to bright lights.

 _I'm going to win the award for "Number of Times Drugged by Kidnappers in Under a Year."_ Peggy thought wryly.

This time Peggy was lying down on a hospital style bed, and her arms and legs were restrained by leather straps. Pulling against the straps proved to be useless; the straps held steady. She was wearing a hospital gown.

The room was all white, with tables and monitors all around the room. It was quite similar to the last room she was in in terms of dimensions, however, here was a window looking into some sort of observation room across from her. On the other side of the window were two men dressed in scrubs, the bottom halves of their faces concealed by masks. They seemed to be arguing over some paperwork on a clipboard.

Peggy tried to make out what they were saying, but she couldn't hear a thing. Suddenly, they looked up, realizing that she was awake. One of the men reached up and pulled a blind closed over the window. Peggy frowned and continued to scan the room.

There didn't appear to be any sort of camera in the room, which gave Peggy an advantage if she managed to work out an escape plan, but that didn't solve the issue of her restraints.

Peggy pushed down the feeling of panic she could feel rising in her chest. She would get out of this, or she would go down fighting. Leather straps could not bind the fierce love she had for her child or her husband, and that love was what made her dangerous.

Peggy was a survivor, and she refused to be overcome.

...

The man was fighting back. He had to get the other consciousness out of his head. Only bad things would happen if he didn't.

He had seen through his own eyes what The Soldier had done. He had been powerless to stop it, but he had kept fighting to regain control. Now, the Soldier was starting to weaken.

Bucky Barnes had little to fight for before. He had little reason to resist the soldier. He hadn't found the hope to muster his strength.

But then The Soldier had attacked Peggy, and Bucky had had enough. He couldn't allow The Soldier to tear his best friend's family (which was, in a sense, Bucky's own family) apart.

The Soldier weakened further; Bucky was gaining ground. His head hurt, like The Soldier was raking his fingernails down his brain, but that just made Bucky push harder. If her could feel the pain of his own head, that meant that he was gaining ground.

Suddenly, there was a spinning sensation. Bucky opened his eyes; The Soldier was gone. He looked around the room, and saw that he was alone.

Bucky broke the restraints that held him to his chair with ease. He stood and kicked the door to his room down.

Bucky Barnes was back, and he was going to get his revenge. He would take out the men that had hijacked his mind. He would kill the ones who had made him a monster. He was like an animal, ready to take down those who had caged him

Oh yes, Bucky barnes would have his revenge. but first, he would make things right.

 **Hope you liked that chapter! Honestly, this story has expanded much more than I originally intended, and I'm really happy it did!**

 **Also, you might have noticed a mention of a certain other Avenger that I love. First person to tell me who it is gets a shout-out.**

 **Have a great week!**

 **-Fish**


	13. Chapter 13

**My motivation is back (hopefully this isn't a temporary thing) and so here we are!**

 **Disclaimer: Marvel still won't respond to my offers about buying them. I'm not sure why; 5$ seems like a perfectly reasonable offer.**

 **Chapter 13**

She was so light on her feet; Steve could hardly hear her walk through the library bookcases as they searched through the public records. There was something about the way she walked that made her seem as if her feet never hit the ground, like a ballerina.

Steve shook his head to clear his thoughts; they had been reading records for the past hour, and had made a sizable list of probable locations for Hydra to hide. The whole time, something at the back of Steve's head was screaming at him, telling him there wasn't much time.

"Hey." Jenny slid into the seat across from him, "Check this one out." She slid a paper in his direction. "This building was bought some time ago by a company called Red Sky Inc. Ever heard of it?"

"No." Steve lifted the paper.

"Exactly. Neither have I. From what I've found, I don't think anyone has."

"Are you saying the company doesn't exist?" Steve looked back up at her.

"Probably."

"Lets go check it out." Steve slid his shield on his back, and the two of them left the library.

...

Bucky moved quietly through the halls, some part in the back of his mind guiding him to his destination. They would keep Peggy in one of two places, the second floor cells or the basement lab. He decided to check the basement first; the longer he was gone the more likely he would be discovered, and it would be easier to escape from the second story than it would be from the basement.

So far Bucky hadn't met any guards, and he had managed to avoid all of the security cameras. He found the lack of guards to be slightly concerning, but not as concerning as the tingling he felt at the back of his mind. There were still remnants of The Soldier there, and every once in awhile he could feel The Soldier fighting his mind. The Soldier was weak and Bucky could hold him off on his own just fine, but he worried about what might happen if someone were to say those words again.

Another thing that had Bucky worried was about who might be in the room with Peggy when he found her, particularly Plan B. He knew that Plan B was a young woman with incredible hand-to-hand combat training, and that she had been there to take Peggy in if The Soldier failed. He also knew that Plan B had been successful, and that she would be tasked with guarding Peggy.

Bucky reached the stairs to the basement, and moved quietly down the railing. The door at the bottom of the stairs leading to the lab had light shining underneath of it. Bucky opened the door just a crack, and looked inside.

It was empty.

There was absolutely no people in the room. He wasn't really surprised that Peggy wasn't there, but the lack of guards and scientists shocked him.

Where was everyone?

He went inside the lab and double checked, just to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Satisfied that the room was entirely devoid of people, he made his way back upstairs and toward the second floor.

...

There was a reason that Bucky hadn't found any people while he moved about the halls.

And that reason was named Peggy Carter.

Peggy had managed to use the sharp metal edge of her bed to cut through the leather restraints, and had since been fighting off guards with a metal railing she had broken off of the bed. She had managed to take down about 15 or so, but she could feel herself tiring, and more guards were coming.

She swung hard, hitting the head of a guard and knocking him into another. She brought her arms back to take another swing, but the railing was yanked from her grip. She turned around in shock, and felt a guard pull her arm up and around her back to restrain her. Peggy felt her heart sink as she realized she was about to lose.

In truth, she knew that this was a battle she couldn't win, and she hadn't really fought to win. She had fought to gather information.

By causing a disturbance, she could gauge the response time of the guards, how many guards there were, and how badly they were allowed to hurt her.

From what she had gathered, her chances didn't look good.

Suddenly, a roar resounded through the hall.

Peggy looked back at the doorway to see a guard go flying past.

Literally, flying.

"Well that's new." Peggy muttered.

Bucky burst into the room, smashing the two guards just inside the door's heads together. They slumped to the ground.

"The Soldier is loose!" a guard shouted into a radio.

"Worse," Bucky said as he lifted the man up by the neck with his metal arm, "a very angry Bucky Barnes is loose. "

He dropped the guard, who passed out from lack of oxygen.

The other guard restraining Peggy had raised his gun and was about to fire, but Peggy kicked a foot out and knocked the gun away. She swung her fist into his temple, knocking him out cold.

Bucky turned and looked at Peggy, "You should probably stop doing that."

"What, saving you from getting shot?" She looked indignant.

"No. I appreciate that, but you should stop fighting. I don't think it's good for the baby."

"And why on earth should I trust you?!" Peggy's voice raised a few octaves, "You tried to kidnap me! You threw Steve into a filing cabinet!"

Bucky sighed and ran a hand threw his shaggy hair. "That wasn't me. Not really."

"What do you mean?" Peggy folded her arms.

There was a loud bang in the hall and shouting in the distance. "Never mind, we don't have time for that. Can you get us out?" Peggy grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hall.

"Yeah. This way!"

The two ran down a hallway and a flight of stairs, where Bucky knocked out two guards. They reached the doorway at the bottom and opened it, running out into a first floor hall.

Suddenly, Bucky skidded to a stop, causing Peggy to slam into him.

"Hey! Keep moving!" She pushed past him, but also stopped when she saw what had made Bucky halt.

In the middle of the hallway was a very pleased assasin.

"Going somewhere?" Dottie Underwood crooned.

...

Jenny and Steve approached the warehouse carefully, keeping an eye out for any guards. They decided on both of them entering through a first-floor door, despite Jenny offering to climb up to a second-story window. They tried the door handle, and found it locked. Steve doubled back to kick the door in, but Jenny beat him to it.

They entered with caution; Jenny had her gun raised behind Steve (where on earth had she gotten that?), and Steve had his shield up in front of the two of them. They made it to the end of one hall, and turned down another. They stopped.

In the middle of the hallway was a woman who had her hands on her hips and was confronting someone at the opposite end. Steve looked at who she was talking to, and realized with a start that it was Peggy and Bucky.

It took all of Steve's willpower (and a healthy dose of fear) to keep from sprinting to Peggy. His heart filled with relief, as he looked her over; she seemed to be OK. Bucky was next to her, which made Steve a little nervous as he recalled their last encounter, but Peggy seemed comfortable with Bucky so he trusted that Bucky was OK.

The woman in the middle seemed to sense that there was someone behind her. She turned around slowly, giving Jenny and Steve a catlike grin.

"Captain America and-" she stopped for a moment as she looked at Jenny, " _you._ " Her smile grew even wider.

"Oh! This will be fun!"

 **In the famous words of Tom Hiddleston,**

 **"EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"**

 **-Fish**


	14. Chapter 14

**GUYS I COULDN'T GET INTO MY ACCOUNT FOR LIKE A WEEK BECAUSE I GOT LOGGED OUT ON ACCIDENT AND COULDN'T REMEMBER MY PASSWORD IT WAS TERRIFYING I'M REALLY SORRY!**

 **In other news, MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

 **This chapter is sponsored by procrastination and caffeine.**

 **Warning: Violence happens. I realize there has been violence in other chapters and I didn't put a warning up, so I figured I should probably start doing that.**

 **Disclaimer: Maybe someday?**

 **Chapter 14**

Steve felt a sense of impending doom as he looked at the woman in the middle of the hallway. Her feline grin and easy stance gave him the impression that she was prepared for near anything that they could possibly throw at her.

He glanced at Jenny, who looked unusually calm. The woman had acted like she knew Jenny when she called the girl "you." Jenny had been loyal and helpful thus far, but he knew there was more to her than met the eye.

His thoughts were interrupted by a cackle. "Well, are you just gonna stand there?" The woman threw her hands out impatiently. "C'mon. Who's first?"

Steve slowly took his shield off of his back and took a step toward the woman. "Who are you?"

The woman turned to look at him. "You can call me Dottie. I kidnapped your wife." She shrugged.

Steve met Peggy's gaze at the other end of the hall; if Peggy could just get Dottie to turn around for a few seconds...

Peggy picked up on his plan. "Dottie." The assassin turned toward her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun." Dottie responded.

Steve flung his shield at her, taking advantage of her distraction.

Much to everyone's surprise, Dottie ducked away from the shield without even looking. The shield sailed by her, and Bucky caught it just in time to prevent it from hitting him in the face.

Dottie turned toward Steve. "It's very rude to throw things at people when they are talking."

Bucky surged forward, punching at her with the shield. Dottie ducked under it just in time, and swung a leg into Bucky's knees, sweeping him off of his feet. Bucky put all his weight on his hands as he fell, and pushed himself back onto his feet like a spring. Steve swung a fist at the assassin, which she blocked with unnerving speed. She threw her elbow at his face, which he ducked, and Steve landed a punch to her gut.

Dottie flew back into Bucky, who caught her and hooked an elbow around her neck, cutting off her airflow. Dottie struggled against his iron grip.

"Longing." she gasped out.

Bucky stumbled back as pain seared through his skull. "NO!" he shouted hoarsely. He could feel The Soldier waking.

Dottie landed a roundhouse kick to his gut. Bucky fell back and hit the wall.

She whirled around to stop Steve's fist inches from her face, and twisted his arm. Steve cried out in pain, and Dottie kicked him back toward Bucky.

Steve and Bucky watched as she advanced on them. Suddenly, she fell to the floor.

Jenny was standing behind her, fists up.

Dottie popped back onto her feet, swinging a fist at the pilot. Jenny caught her fist and twisted her arm. Dottie cried out, but rallied with another punch. Jenny ducked and kicked at Dottie's legs. Jenny jumped over her swinging leg.

Soon, the two women were a flurry of arms and legs, each meeting the other's moves punch-for-punch. The others could only stand stunned as they watched them fight.

Without warning, Dottie flew into the wall as Jenny landed a hard kick to her abdomen. Dottie's head hit the wall hard, and she slumped to the floor, unconscious. Jenny panted and lowered her raised fists.

"Jenny?" Peggy said.

"Agent Carter." Jenny turned toward Peggy, her face a bit sheepish.

"That's not your name, is it?" Steve said coldly.

Jenny said nothing, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Dottie recognized you, and I sure don't know any pilot with that kind of combat training. Who are you really?"

"Natalia Romanova." Bucky said quietly.

Steve and Peggy turned to look at Bucky in surprise. His eyes were searching the girl's face.

"Also known as the Black Widow." Bucky finished.

They turned back to Jenny. "Yes. That is my name." She now spoke with a Russian accent.

Slowly, Natalia reached up and pulled at the skin by her ear. The others watched as she carefully removed her wig, revealing a head full of blood-red hair. She fingered first her right eye and then her left, taking out the hazel colored contacts concealing her green eye color. She tossed the disguise aside, as the others looked on.

"Perhaps I should explain." She said quietly.

"We both should." Bucky agreed.

"Explain in a moment; we need to get out of here first. Dottie could wake up any moment and who knows where the guards are." Peggy grabbed Steve and Natalia's arms and pulled them out the door.

They all walked in silence as they made their way toward the plane. The stars were shining brightly, which made the silence feel a bit less awkward. Steve slipped his hand into Peggy's, and she gave him a small smile.

"I'm glad you are OK. I was really worried." He said quietly.

"To be honest, so was I." Peggy squeezed his hand.

"I don't know what I would do if you..." He paused, blinking, "if something were to happen to you. Or the baby." He reached down and placed a gentle hand on the small protrusion above her hips. "I don't think I could handle it." His voice was barely above a whisper.

Peggy pulled him into a hug, before linking her arm with his and pulling him toward the plane.

The group just managed to fit into the cockpit, but it was a very tight squeeze. Steve and Bucky awkwardly pressed into the back seats, allowing Peggy and Natalia to sit semi-comfortably in the front.

"Ok. Now I will tell you everything." Natalia began.

"I was raised in an organization called the Red Room, which trained young Russian girls to be spies. Actually, 'weapons' would be a better word. They turned little girls into weapons. I was part of the program, and I graduated last year at the top of my class. They called me the Black Widow. I was sent on a few missions first, but soon I was called back to help train another incoming group of girls. Instead of having me train the girls, they decided to have me train The Winter Soldier, a project Hydra started and the Red Room assisted in completing. I would have been willing to help train The Soldier. I was trained- no, programmed to do so. However, I saw the way they treated him, like he was a broken toy. Suddenly, it was as if I could see everything; I could see how wrong everything was. I decided I wanted out.

"I am, however, a spy. So instead of just running away, I trained The Soldier. More importantly, I trained him in all the skills he would need to escape and survive. I also trained the man behind The Soldier to fight the brainwashing. Bucky," she nodded toward him, "was the man behind The Soldier."

"She was teaching me to control the soldier and fight my way out when Hydra figured out what she was doing and threw her in a cell. I lost control over The Soldier, and his consciousness took over for a very long time." Bucky ran a hand through his hair.

"They took me away and tortured me for some time," Natalia continued, "trying to find out who hired me to betray them." She scoffed. "They didn't think I was capable of doing this on my own. They never saw me as anything other than a dog trained to do their bidding.

"After being tortured one day, I was taken down to my cell and I found you." She gestured toward Peggy. "We escaped and I got a new identity in the U.S.. I was planning on settling down and living a peaceful life there as a pilot for the SSR when I heard you had been taken by The Soldier. I felt that I owed you a debt for helping me escape, and I needed to get Bucky out of the hands of Hydra, so I got Captain Rogers here to fly with me to rescue the two of you." Natalia paused. "I am sorry for the lies I told. I really am. I just didn't think anyone would help me if they knew who I really was."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, before Peggy reached a hand out to touch Natalia's shoulder. Natalia looked up in surprise.

"Lets go home." Peggy said with a sad smile.

 **Welp, there ya have it folks. "Jenny" is actually the Black Widow! I appreciate everyone who guessed at who she was. I hope you guys are cool with this little plot twist!**

 **Again, I apologize from the depths of my heart for my crappy updating skills. I am a horrible person.**

 **I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!**

 **God Bless!**

 **\- Fish**


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